Where firefighters come to talk training

MY FIRST RESCUE

My first rescue.

My first rescue came on a hot summer afternoon in Southside. This period of years provided plenty of practice opportunities to improve our skills, to cut seconds off of the time from dispatch to fire attack, to learn to appreciate the timing and coordination between the vent and fire attack, and the symphony that is an engine and truck company working in harmony.

As a rookie, I was blessed to get all of the nozzle time I wanted and our district was so fire active that no one wanted to take off on a weekend night because we knew there would be work.

The couple of rooms burning in a two story made for short work and we started to pickup as the truck company performed overhaul and NOT enough salvage. Salvage then, and now, (unless directed, encouraged, taught, importance understood) usually involves throwing good stuff out of a window with damaged stuff, as our customers watch from across the street as we disrespect all their stuff. (Can you tell I like to teach salvage?)

As I rolled cotton hose in the street, I rolled past a Mother and her small daughter who were seated on the curb across from the fire. The child seemed especially distraught and she caused me to pause and to react. I knelt and removed my helmet and tried to give her the old "everything will be OK" speech.

"You don't understand Mister, my bear was burned up in that fire."

Here was a small child who put me in my place and made me realize the true importance of that moment in her life. As a Firefighter, we should never become so involved in US that we forget who called us and who we came to serve. We also need to be especially careful, then and now, of our actions such as laughter or horseplay that can (and probably will) be seen as "they don't care or my emergency is funny to them." The high tech world we live in will almost certainly find us "caught on tape" if our actions and speech are not well thought out.

I rushed back in to the house and searched for the bear who had become the focus of my attention. The big truck company guys thought it was funny as I dug through the smoldering debris of two rooms. Their jokes do not need to be repeated!

After a couple of minutes, I found the soaked bear in a pile of plaster covered debris. I cleaned the bear off as best I could, to the applause of the truck guys who were enjoying me more that homemade ice cream.

As I prepared to exit the house, I cradled the bear in my arms and tried to give it the importance it deserved. The little girl wasn't focused on the flashing lights, all the activity, or the Firefighters moving around the scene, she was looking for her Firefighter, she was looking for me.

If the look on this child's face wasn't special I wouldn't recall it so clearly some 35 years later. She smiled and giggled, pointed and stood as I took a knee, removed my helmet in respect, and presented my first rescue.

It's the PEOPLE business. It is not all fire, or all EMS, or a combination of both, it is the PEOPLE.

I have been blessed to enjoy a long career and to learn from great people, both on and off of the job. Remember that you will only get one chance to make a first impression and the first impression that you make reflects on me and all those who came before us.

Thanks for your time.

Have a great day - it's a great day for it.

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